Back To Luther... and the old (German) Missouri Synod. Below are thoughts, confessions, quotations from a Missouri Synod Lutheran (born 1952) who came back to his old faith... and found more treasures than he knew existed in the training of his youth.
The great Lutheran lineage above: Martin Luther, C.F.W. Walther, Franz Pieper.

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Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Walther's sermon book Year of Grace Part 3 (Gnadenjahr)

This continues and concludes from Part 2, the series publishing Walther's Gnadenjahr, or Year of Grace translation by Pastor Donald E. Heck. — In this concluding Part 3, I offer a small sampling, not a full index, of topics and terms that caught my eye... and my heart.

I invite the reader to not only read Walther's sermons in a devotional time (as I have in a family setting), but also search for some specific topics he has covered in this book. I made two listings below as I went through Walther's Year of Grace book: 1) Quotes and (2) Search Terms. Neither of these are exhaustive. Please note that Part 1 contains pages 1-180, while Part 2 contains pages 181-362.

Quotes

p. 63: "According to Scripture the doctrine of Christ's person is the first, the most important, the main and fundamental doctrine of all Christianity. ... On this very point Christ's teachings are different from those of all other religions;"

p. 162: “Not the correct use of reason but the natural love of self and man's innate hatred of God it is which moves him to deny the divine origin of Holy Scripture because of the doctrines it contains which he regards as strange and incomprehensible.”

p. 254: “Where are the zealous Romans, Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Thessalonians to whom St. Paul wrote? Where are the faithful Philadelphians to whom St. John wrote? Where are the glorious German congregations of whom Luther once wrote to his prince, that they were like a paradise in which young and old were provided with God’s Word, and from whom we have received our precious confessional writings and all the glorious treasures of our church? Once they were full, of earnestness and zeal for God’s Word but now that is gone.”

p 288: "But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?" V.29 [From "The Good Samaritan", and the lawyer who tried to tempt Jesus]

p 312: "...the more peacefully he falls asleep, the more terrible will his awakening be in eternity. We are not told that the rich man died amid great anguish"

p. 304: "The thought that there is a middle road which leads to heaven is an empty dream, and those who comfort themselves with it and remain in it are lost beyond hope of deliverance. Among the ways which lead to eternity is the middle road – the highway to hell.

p. 323: "...because of which they do not recognize their daily, hourly transgressions in their greatness and huge number, that is the real root of their unbelief; that is why they loathe the doctrine of grace, hate Christ the crucified, and his holy precious reconciliation so greatly.

p. 339: "Do not be deceived by the sectarians of our day, who lead their hearers to strive unceasingly for the sweet feeling of grace and the perceptible witness of the Holy Ghost in their hearts, and not to consider themselves children of God until they have received this. This is a completely wrong order of salvation.

p. 349: "Blessed the state whose citizens are true Christians; in the peace of the country they will be solid pillars and in war the best protecting walls of the nation. As in a realm they protect the throne of the prince, so in a republic they as·free men nourish, guard, and protect the tree of freedom.

p. 349: "...in worldly kingdoms government officials, even if they are Christians, should above all provide for the welfare of this life."

p. 358: "The severest temptations which can come upon Christians are really the temptations of false doctrine; and these are the temptations, which above all God's Word predicts will come upon Christendom in the last evil times, in which we are now living.

p. 358: "The fulfillment of this prophecy began in the year 66 A.D., 36 years later; the Roman army under Gessius Florus, Roman governor at that time, appeared for the first time before the gates of the holy city. At this time, the Christians quickly fled from Palestine and sought refuge in Pella, a little city lying on the other side of the Jordan. Scarcely were the Christians safe when, as the Lord predicted in our text, tribulation without parallel in world history broke upon the Jews." -- The real "Holocaust" for the Jews.

Search Terms

In my listing of search terms below, I have added specific page numbers on some of them – otherwise the reader may do their own “text search”.

Africa / Asia / Europe (p 254: "As richly as God once visited Asia, so poor is it now; as gloriously as congregations once bloomed in Africa, so desolate is it now spiritually; as highly as God once pardoned Europe, so ravaged is it now." – by The American Luther!)

Heterodox: p 294 – "even among the heterodox there are those who have experienced Christ's help and will be saved"; p 296-7: "...the Samaritan even though he was a member of a heterodox sect ... but that even they receive salvation only through true faith"

Justification (e.g. p. 242: "for the pure doctrine of justification permits no error" – The heart of ...; p. 262: "most important article of the entire Christian faith, that is, with the justification of a person before God"

Layman (p 216 - "every Christian layman")

Martyrs (p 357: "the godless Jews and heathen hated and considered them [Christians] not only foes of the state religion but also of men and atheists." Tertullian, Eusebius, etc.)

MERE CHRISTIANITY!! 8th Sunday after Trinity!

Military service, p 349

Luther (e.g. p 239- "Had Luther permitted love and not the truth to rule in matters of doctrine, we would indeed all still be papists..."; pg 346- "Luther... publicly accused of rebellion...)

Means of grace (esp 193- "Here you have incontestable proof that whoever denies the saving power of Baptism bases salvation upon man's work and thus undermines the main pillars of Christianity, our justification alone by grace through faith."

Sects: p 351-- "As far as the sects are concerned, they are always speaking of faith so that one would suppose that they are not the foes of the doctrine of faith and of salvation by grace; but do not be deceived just because they repeatedly use the word faith."

Sectarians, p 339

Slaves (p. 61)

Sodom (p. 294)

So, so! (God so loved the world...)

Sunday-Christians, p. 318 ff

Superstition

State, United States, government, citizenship: p. 346 ff.

Unbelief: p 164: "Is unbelief, therefore, according to the judgment of the Holy Spirit the only sin of the world? In a certain sense, yes!"; p. 337 ff. " Unbelief found in Christians".Unlearned

Universal reconciliation (pg 60: "God has revealed in his Word that all men, all, even the greatest sinner, are reconciled with him through Christ")

"Universalism" - p. 295 -- "They think that one religion is as good as the next; and just as long as a person is earnest about his religion and acts as his conscience directs, he will be saved. A heathen who zealously serves his gods, a Mohammedan who lives strictly by the Koran, and a Jew who clings scrupulously to his Jewish laws will enter heaven just as well as a Christian."

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About Me

I was born into the Missouri Synod of the Lutheran Church in 1952. After largely throwing off my Christian faith in my youth, the Lord showed me back by his Word. He also showed me the wealth of true teaching in the old (German) Missouri Synod. Hence the above pseudo-name I have chosen.
You may contact me via email postmaster @ franzpieper.com